A bending and balancing mechanism for the axially shiftable rolls of a roll stand, especially for the working rolls of a four-high rolling mill, is known from German open application DE OS No. 36 27 690 in which a guiding block is mounted fixed in position on each side in a stand window of the roll stand and a plurality of roll supporting members are supported so as to be horizontally slidable adjacent each end of the rolls on an upper and/or lower lifting housing guided vertically in the guiding block and roll bending forces are transmitted from the bending cylinders to the roll supporting members.
In the bending and balancing mechanism of the type described in German Open Patent Application No. 36 27 690, two bending cylinders act on each of the lifting housings guiding the horizontally slidable roll supporting members, which are mounted so that the upper lifting housing receives the cylinder piston, while the piston rod or shaft is connected to the lower lifting housing. For working roll bending, the cylinder piston located in the upper lifting housing is acted on exteriorly, whereby pressing forces caused by the piston rods are applied to the lower lifting housing. As a result, forces directed upwardly from the upper lifting housing are transmitted to the sliding surfaces of the structural members and downwardly acting forces are transmitted by the lower lifting housing on the sliding surfaces of the lower structural member.
The design with the lifting housing and bending cylinder facilitates replacement and maintenance, whereby shorter idle times for the roll stand are attainable. That is also true when the hydraulic mechanism for axial working roll shifting is combined with the lifting housing.